Apparatus for treating flexible visible index material



April 14, 1942. E. ATTWOOD ,27 7

' APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLEXIBLE VISIBLE INDEX MATERIAL Filed Nov. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIELI.

April 14,: 1942. c. E. ATTWOOD APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLEXIBLE VISIBLE INDEX MATERIAL Filed Nov. 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z 7? d 72 f0 7". (karZes Z1795 (Zea-00 a,

Patented Apr. 14, 1942 APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLEXIBLE VISIBLE INDEX MATERIAL Charles E.- Attwood, Ghicago, 111., assignor to Acme Visible Records, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corpora'tion of Delaware Application November 13, 1939, Serial No. 304,087 .7 Claims. oter-155) well known and widely used. Flexible indexi strips of this type' are provided-in continuous sheet form comprising Wood veneer faced on the front and back with paper. The laminated sheet thus formed is then partially severed in the direction of its thickness or depth to permit'subsequent separating into individual resilient index strips. The sheet while in partially severed condition, of course, is sufliciently coherent to be passed, for instance, around the platen of a typewriter whereby the index matter is typed upon the individual strips. Thereafter, the strips are severed completely and inserted in appropriate frames provided for that purpose.

Although use of strips constructed as above generally set forth have over long period of years been found to be highly satisfactory, yet the use of wood veneer in atmospheres of high relative humidity, and particularly in sea coast areas, has met with some difficulty due to moisture absorption and resultant warping of the individual strips.

It is therefore a prime object of this invention to provide apparatus suitable for carrying out the waterproofing flexible visible index strips While in sheet form to produce strips which are free of warping tendencies due to atmospheric moisture, by means which insure penetration and absorption of the moisture proofing materials on all sides and edges of the strip, while at the same time preserving the partially severed condition of the sheet so that the individual strips may thereafter be readily separated without destroying the protective material.

In general the invention comprises the passing of the flexible visible index strips while still in the conventional partially severed sheet form, and preferably from a roll, through a solution of a waterproofing agent, and particularly in a manner whereby the scores which extend substantially through the sheet are opened up so that penetration and absorption of the moistureproofing material will be at a maximum including the longitudinal edges of the individual strips. The steps of operation by means of the apparatus further comprise the drying of the treated sheet which preferably includes a dry heating means, such as a radiant heat source, and frequently re-opening the scores to permit the longitudinal edges of the strips an opportunity to dry and to substantially preserve the sheet in itsv original partially scored and readily severable condition.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein: I

Fig. 1 is a face view of a frame 'showingindividual flexible visible-index strips mounted in position. 1 J r Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an individual strip'after being separated froma sheet.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional'view of a partially severed sheet of index strips. v 1

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an apparatusfor carrying out the moisture-proofing treatment of the strips while insheet form; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the impregnating portion of the apparatus.

"Referring tothe drawings, a' sheet of index strips In as generally constructed comprises a thin ply of wood veneer ,such as red gummed veneer which is extremely porous, faced with a sheet of paper I2 capable of receiving typewriting or other imprint, and backed'preferably' with a thin sheet of material l3 such as onionskin paper, the whole-being'cut transversely to define strips I4. Incutting the sheet, the cut is made through the facing sheet 12 and through, or substantially through, the wood veneer ll," leaving thebacking'sheet l3 intact. i This sheet may be I the sheet singly or in numbers, and'inserted in a suitable frame, generally indicated as l5, by doubling the flexible strips and inserting them beneath the side flanges l6 of theframe.

. As hereinbefore stated, the formation of the sheets, their use, the separation of the strips and their insertion in frame holders as above outlined have over a long period of years been found generally satisfactory. However, in humid or moist atmospheres, and especially in sea coast areas it has been found that due to the extreme porosity of the wood veneer component of the strips, if unprotected, moisture is absorbed from the atmosphere. This in time warps and otherwise deteriorates the strips and causes them to become loose and even to fall out of the mounting frame. advantage of the porosity of the strips a waterprofing agent may readily be incorporated to render the strips moisture resistent and thereby overcome difliculties due to warping or deterioration on long usage;

'Water-proofing ofrabsorb'ent materials and I have found, however, that by taking,

' threaded into the other.

the sheets may be treated before being imprinted; but in suchusage the amount of protective ma,-

terial that can be incorporated must be limited consistent with the ability of the facing sheet to thereafter receive an imprint or-the particular process of imprinting; On the other hand, as

will be understood by those skilled in the art, the amount of solvent in', the. lacquer' solution must be limited in treating a printed surface whereas with blank surfaces the amount of solvent is not; a consideration;- For waterproofing the Sheets after they are imprinted it is therefore preferablejwhen;utilizing the nitro cellulose clear lacquersolutionto-have a viscosity of approximately eight minutes througha Ford #4.

cup, and when treating;, the imprintedsheets a much thinner solution may be used.

It is also most desirable, that the water-proof- 34 being adjacent to the base at the end op-' provided with ears and an adjusting screw 3! extending through one of the ears and being By manipulation of the screw 3| the peripheral relationship or compression of the pinch rolls 2! may be varied or adjusted. While I have shown a preferred manner of mounting and adjusting the pinch rolls 21, it will be understood that other conventional squeeze, draw or wringer rolls and adjustable mounting means therefor may be utilized within the scope of my invention.

Mounted on the support 2| are the spaced apart flanged rolls 32, 33 and 34 carried on suitable spindles extending from or journalled in the support, the rolls 32' and 33 being vertically spaced from thebase 26 and mounted adjacent the opposed upper comers of support 2|, and roll posed to the tank 25. Although not shown, additional like rolls may be interposed. An additional spindle 35 extends from the support 2| spaced from the base 20 and adjacent to a vertical plane extending through the axes of the rolls 33 and 34, and mounted on the spindle 35 ing treatment be carried out onthe sheets as a unit as distinguished from the individual strips. The reasons for thisas far aspreetreating the sheets prior to imprinting ,is self evident from the nature of the material and its inherent-use. Treatment of the imprintedstrips in-sheet form is also necessary, in order that the impregnating may be uniform, that thejoperation may be carried out rapidly, and economically, and that the strips be maintained ingan orderly manner and in their original arrangement, so that their insertion either singly or in groups into the holder frame may be facilitated.

In order to fully protect the strips and carry out their'impregnation while in sheet form'it is necessary that steps betaken ,to insure that the lacquer be applied to the longitudinaledges of the strips, and it is further essential that in the course of such treatment that the drying of the lacquer will not seal the lines of partial severance so that ease in separation of the strips will not be impaired and the protective material will not be pulled away. Such method and objects may. be

is a wind-up reel 36; I

Operation of the apparatus may be accomplished by means of a motor and speed reducer mounted: on the base 20, or by means of a crank and suitable gearing (none of which is shown), the motive power being preferably applied to the pinch rolls 21, and from which motive source there may additionally extend a belt such as a spring belt to wind up reel 36, to furnish a positive wind-up means. A drying means adapted to quickly dry the lacquered material is interposed in the path of travel thereof, as indicated at 31 preferably in the path of horizontal travel between the rolls 32 and 33. It will be understood,

readily accomplished by: means of the apparatus shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The apparatus comprises a base 26 having a mounting support 2| extending vertically therecarrying a feed reel 23, and one or more'auxiliary spindles 24 for carryingadditional rolls of material to be treated as will be hereinafter set forth. On the base 20;adjacent one end thereof is mounted an impregnating tank 25, within which is contained a roll 26..of .relatively small diameterwith referenceto. the width ofthe strips to be treated, and a pair of pinch rolls 21, preferably covered with .rubber'or the likematerial. The roll 26 and the pinch rolls 21 are suitably journalled in'the springbearing blocks 28, the whole assembly being removable from the tank 25 for ease-in cleaning. It will'be noted that the block 28 is formed with an oblique jslot29 extending to adjacent .one..cornergthereof and is however, that the heat source means 31 as illustrated is diagrammatic and may comprise a drying oven or the like, although it is preferred to utilize an infra-red lamp oras indicated by the dotted lines a pair of opposed lamps to furnish radiant heat which will give a dry heat as opposed to hot air ,or convection heating means which entails moisture condensation which I desireto avoid.

In carrying out the moisture proofing process the tank 25 is kept supplied with lacquer to a level well above the roll 26. ;A reel 23 of strip material in sheet form ID, as supplied in roll form or as rewound after being printed, is mounted on spindle 22 and drawn through the lacquer solution in tank 25, around roll 26 and then upwardly between pinch rolls 21, the sheet being introduced so that the unsevered backing sheet l3 lies against the surface of the roll 26,tand likewise continues to lie in the same .relationship in its subsequent passage around rolls 32, 33, 34 and onto wind-up reel 36, so as to prevent ruptureq It will be noted that the sheet In is introduced at an oblique angle-and the roll 26 is positioned with respect to rolls 2! so that the sheet is fed between the rolls 2! in a plane substantially perpendicular to a plane passing through their'axe's, and thus the plane at which the sheet material is introduced is at an oblique angle to the plane of the sheet as it passes around and leaves the roll 26. This action causes thesheet, the strips of which are relatively wide with respect tothe diameter of roll 26 to become acutely bent around the roll 26 exposing the longitudinal edges of the strips and particularly the edges of the porous wood veneer component to the lacquer impregnant insuring complete protection.

aara'zol As the: impregnated sheet passes between the a o l nert a may we ad u t a r viously set forth to control the thinness onthickness of the coating, the applied pressure addi tionally acts-to more orless force; the lacquer through any small holes or crevices that may have escaped coating when passing freely through. the

bath, and aids in insuring thorough: coveringand impregnation, V l I a A y The impregnated sheet is then drawn upwardly, and since atmospheric drying immediately sets in, it is v caused to pass at substantially a right angle around roll 32. This change-of direction causes an angular separation of the strips to permit the longitudinal edges to dry and to prevent their adhesion or the formation of a unitary film ever the severed, facing sheet. 3 The sheet is then caused to pass horizontally over roll-33 whereat its direction of travel is likewise changed in the samemanner and for like reasons as at roll 32. For speed in operation and completion of the process drying means is'interposed in the path of the sheets travel, and for the additional reason that in the use of lacquer with an imprinted sheet rapidity of drying is desirable. I have found T that a suitable point for carrying out the heat dryingtreatment is on the horizontal run of the sheet, and somewhat adjacent to roll 32. While I have diagrammatically indicated a heating means 31, I prefer to use a source of radiant heat which will give dry heat without undue moisture condensation, and for this purpose I prefer to use a pair of infra-red lamps one on each side of the traveling sheet in suitable reflectors, as indicated at 31 opening onto the opposed faces of the sheet. After the sheet is carried over roll 33 it is caused to pass over roll 34 and thereafter wound up onto reel 36. It will be noted that reel 36 is carried on a spindle inwardly of the major run of the sheet and adjacent to roll 33, which causes the sheet to be carried over roll 34 at an acute angle and thereby assuring good angular separation of the strips,

drying of the longitudinal edges of the strips, and

consequent ease in their later separation and elimination of tendency toward separation of the protective coating from the face of the strips.

As hereinbefore set forth the partially severed sheet of strip material comprises a backing of thin tissue such as onion skin paper which remains unsevered during imprinting and during the impregnating and protective treatment herein described. However, due to the fact that a thin backing paper of this nature is utilized, in the carrying out of the within process the thin sheet becomes so permeated with the treating solution that when the strips are later completely severed, either manually or by suitable mechanical means, the severed or separated edges of this backing sheet are also found to be protected due to the penetration and permeation of the protective impregnant.

In carrying out the operation it will be evident that if the initially treated sheet, or as much of a roll as is required to make a complete run from the feed reel to the wind-up reel, is desired to be kept under the slight tension necessary to insure angular separation of the strips in their passage around the several rolls, a dummy sheet may be threaded through the apparatus and spliced to the first roll, and the same procedure may be carried out with respect to the end of the roll. For continuity of operation there is provided the auxiliary spindle 24 on which may be placed a second reel of rolled up sheet ma- -mat erial on reel 23C. mayrbe {spliced :thereto, and

era i n-w t, 7 l -;It may also be noted.- that ;when rolls of sheet strip material are typed on an automatic machine such as 'a tabulating machine, they. are rewound automatically and taken off, and this of course putsthe indexes in reverse order in thatan operation of rewinding the roll is necessaryto bring the indexes back to their proper alphabetical or original arrangement. The herein coating may thus bev accomplished conven iently during this necessary 'rewinding operation.

I claim as my invention: I

1. Apparatus for moisture proofing flexible visible index strips in continuous sheet form composed of a porous wood veneer body portion faced and backed with paper and scored through the procedure alternated foriadded continuity of the facing paper and woodbody portion comprising a receptacle containing a body of moisture proofing solution, a roll submerged in the solution about which a continuous sheet of said strip material is trained with its unsevered backing paper in contact therewith 'for. immersion .in the' solution, the said roll-being of relatively small diameter with respect to the width of said strips, and means comprising a pair of pressure rolls:constructed. and arranged withrespectto said submerged ,roll for vertically withdrawing said sheet from'said solution inplanar formation at an acute angle to the plane Ofits introductionto cause said sheet to be acutely bent around said roll and to expose the longitudinal edges of said strips to said solution While passing therethrough. 1

- ZJApparatus for moisture proofing flexible visible index strips in 'contin'uousrsheet forrn severed back for immersion in the solution, the

said roll being of relatively small diameter with respect to the width of said strips, means for withdrawing said sheet from said solution at an acute angle to the plane of its introduction to cause said sheet to be acutely bent around said roll and to expose the longitudinal edges of said strips to said solution while passing therethrough, and a plurality of exteriorly mounted rolls about which the sheet is trained in contact with its unsevered back for drying thereof, the said exterior rolls being spaced apart and positioned whereby thesheet is caused to intermittently flex in a direction toward said unsevered back only and expose the longitudinal edges of the strips for separated drying.

3. Apparatus for moisture proofing flexible visible index strips in continuous sheet form composed of aporous wood veneer body portion faced and backed with paperand scored through the facing paper and wood body portion comprising a receptacle containing a body of moisture proofing solution, a roll submerged in the solution about which a continuous sheet of said strip material is trained in contact with its unsevered back for immersion in the solution, the said roll being of relatively small diameter with respect to the width of said strips, means for withdrawing said sheet from said solution at.

therethrough, a plurality of exteriorly mounted rolls about which the'sheet is trained in contact with its unsevered back for drying thereof, the

said exterior rolls being spaced apart and positioned whereby the sheet is caused to intermittently'fiex in a direction toward said unsevered back only and expose the longitudinal edges of the strips for separated drying, and radiant heat drying means interposed in the'path oftravel of the sheet around said exteriorrolls. l

4. Apparatus for adding a moisture proofing saturant and coating} to flexible visible index strips in sheet form composed of a porous wood veneer body portion faced and backed with paper and scored through the facing paper and wood body portion which comprises a receptacle con taining a body of moisture proofing solution, a roll submerged in said solution about which acontinuous sheet of said strip material is trained for immersion in the solution, means for introducing saidsheetat an oblique angle, and a pair of pressure rolls -for withdrawing the sheet substantially vertically from the solution and to remove'excess saturant therefrom, the said immersion roll being of relatively small diameter with respect to the width of saidLstrips to cause said, sheet to be bent acutely around it and to expose the longitudinal edges of the strips to said solution, a wind-up reel and a plurality of intermediate exteriorly mounted rolls for supporting the sheet for drying travel thereof, the said exterior rolls being spaced apart and positioned whereby the sheet in its said passage is causedto intermittently flex in a direction toward said unsevered back only and expose the longitudinal edges of said strips to in dividualized drying, and heat drying means comprising infra-red lamps interposed in the said path of 'sheet travel. I

5. Apparatus of the class described comprising a receptacle containing a body of saturant solution, a roll for carrying a continuous sheet of strip material composed of a porous wood veneer body portion faced and backed with paper a plurality of sheet supporting rolls mounted on said frame outwardly of said reels in spaced apart relationship, the'said feed reel being positioned tocause said sheet to pass into said receptacle at an oblique angle and thevsaid immersion roll being positioned adjacent to said draw rolls whereby the sheet is fed between them in a plane substantially perpendicular-to a-plane passing through their axes and caused to be bent acutely around said immersion roll in contact with its unsevered back to flex said sheet and'expose the longitudinal edges of said strips to said solution, the said sheet supporting rolls being adapted to cause said sheet in'its passage from said draw rolls to said wind-up reel. to be exposed to drying conditions and to flex said sheet while passing thereover in a direction toward said unsevered back only to expose the longitudinal edges of the strips thereof, and radiant heat drying means directed against a plane of travel of the sheet.

CHARLES E. A'I'I'WOOD. 

